Ghost of Green Foods Past Historian Christine Kinealy tells NPR that in Ireland, green foods have a dark history, hearkening back to the Irish potato famine and a population forced to subsist on grass. "For Irish-Americans, they think of dying food green, they think everything is happy," Kinealy says. "But really, in terms of the famine, this is very sad imagery." (NPR)

An Unsustainable Health Drink? While the claims that honeybush tea can lower cholesterol and aid symptoms of menopause (claims still unevaluated by the FDA) have pushed sales of the South African tea to new heights, the method of harvest for this wild-growing herbal tea may be pushing it towards extinction. (Scientific American)

The United States of MeatSlate has created a cool interactive U.S. map of meat. No surprise, Florida gets alligator. (Slate)

Cleanse the Body, Freeze the Brain There's now an ice-cream cleanse. The four-day cleanse from Kippy's in Los Angeles calls for eating five pints a day of non-dairy, coconut-oil-based ice creams. (Gizmodo via Well+Good)

Heading to That Sidecar in the Sky TV chef Clarissa Dickson Wright, famous for her cooking show Two Fat Ladies, died over the weekend in Edinburgh, Scotland, at the age of 66. Dickson Wright and Jennifer Paterson starred in the BBC series, which had them driving throughout the U.K. countryside on a Triumph motorcycle and sidecar. (The Independent)

The Perfect Pastry Wes Anderson made a short film featuring the recipe for the Courtesan au Chocolat, a dessert beloved by Ralph Fiennes character M. Gustave in Anderson's latest film, The Grand Budapest Hotel. Looks like you've found a weekend project. (YouTube via Vanity Fair)

An Ombré St. Patrick's Day Cupcakes and Cashmere creates a four-layer green ombré cake for March 17. (Cupcakes and Cashmere)

The Popularity of TV Dinners Thaws Frozen meal sales have begun to dip after 60 straight years of sales growth, according to The Atlantic. Consumers' willingness to make dinner from scratch is one of the big reasons cited for the sales dip. (The Atlantic)

Well This Stinks The European Union is moving forward with plans to limit the use of the names Parmesan, feta, and Gorgonzola on cheese made outside of the EU. When asked what he might have to rename his Parmesan if the trade idea is approved, Errico Auricchio, the president of BelGioioso Cheese in Wisconsin, joked "I Can't Believe It's Not Parmesan." (AP via Gawker)

Chocolate Fried Chicken Restaurateur Adam Fleischman is working on a new fast-food restaurant ChocoChicken that will serve savory chocolate-flavored chicken that "tastes like happiness." The first location opens in Los Angeles next month. (Fast Company)

Tough Noggin' to CrackHere's video of Mohammad Rashid in Pakistan crushing 155 walnuts using only his forehead. (People)

Green Cake, No Dye Required The masterminds at Roberta's in Brooklyn have created a Parsley Cake that is the most naturally green dessert you could make this St. Patrick's Day. (Food52)

Ready for the Big Battle A new Ultraman-themed bar in Kawasaki, Japan, is designed for Japanese monsters or kaiju. They even ban superheros so the villains misunderstood creatures can study their human foes in a specially designed research area at the bar. (Kotaku)

House of 'Cue The Baltimore storefront that played Freddy's BBQ Joint, Vice President Frank Underwood's favorite barbecue restaurant in House of Cards is up for sale. It's a steal at only $119,000. (BuzzFeed)

Krispy Kreme Dream In what might be the ultimate Carolina dessert, chef Rodney Freidank of Table 301 creates a Krispy Krème Brûlée with the iconic doughnut. (Garden and Gun)

The Sunshine Diet Researchers have discovered a microbe that eats electricity. These microbes could be harnessed in pharmaceutical applications in the future. (Science Daily)

Slake a Puddin' Actress Gabrielle Union is set to release her first wine on Monday. Vanilla Puddin Chardonnay is priced at $17 a bottle and along with heavy notes of vanilla, offers hints of caramelized apple, pineapple, and butterscotch. (Jezebel)

Michael Veach is the Bourbon Historian for the The Filson Historical Society, a society founded in 1884 boasting 1.8 million documents related to the history of Kentucky, the Ohio Valley, and Upper South region. Last year he published Kentucky Bourbon Whiskey: An American Heritage which is one of the most comprehensive books on the history of our beloved American spirit. Mike is one of the most knowledgeable people I know about all things bourbon. I've made him a cocktail or two over the years and even invited him along to help me pick out barrels of whiskey for my own whiskey label Red Hook Rye. We recently had a chance to catch up on some whiskey gossip, chat about some favorite bourbons, and plot some upcoming mischief.

LeNell: With all the rumblings about the Jim Beam/Maker's Mark buyout by Suntory, why should those who tout "buy American" embrace this change? What should whiskey lovers expect to happen to these iconic brands once a Japanese company is at the helm?

Mike: I do not understand what the big deal about Jim Beam being purchased by the Japanese is all about. The bourbon will still be made here in Kentucky and be an American product. Maker's was purchased by the Canadians when the family sold the brand and distillery in the '80s, and then purchased by the Brits. It is just another version of foreign ownership for them.

Jim Beam was owned by people in Chicago, which might as well have been "foreign owned" as far as the people in Kentucky are concerned. Just look how long it took Beam to invest into a decent visitors center.

If Suntory is anything like Kirin then it will all be for the better. Kirin invested a lot of money into Four Roses when they purchased the brand and distillery, making the brand available again in the United States after it had only been sold overseas for many years, introducing Single Barrel and Small Batch versions and making improvements at the distillery. If Suntory does all of that as well then Jim Beam and Maker's will greatly benefit. The consumers can expect products that will enhance the image of Beam and Maker's, and they will get away from fruit-flavored blended whiskeys calling themselves "bourbon."

L: You have had the chance to explore all kinds of whiskey history in your work, including sampling whiskey history with your taste buds. What has been the whiskey no longer in production that has just made you shout from the rooftops wishing it was still in production?

Washington distilled whiskey. Jefferson was a wine-lover. We often get a kick out of making connections between political leadership and alcohol. Jennifer Dube of National Media Research Planning and Placement has now charted how drinking habits correlate to political leanings. The research was done based on data supplied by GfK MRI, a producer of media and consumer research in the United States. Will Feltus and a team of researchers at the Republican firm used nearly 50,000 interviews from 2012 to 2013 to complete the analysis.

The graph shows that 14 of the top 15 brands that indicate someone is most likely to vote are wines. Most likely to vote Democrats drink Smoking Loon while Republicans who prefer Kendall-Jackson and Robert Mondavi wines are the most likely to head to the polls. Least likely voters are drinking Don Julio tequila, Jägermeister, Smirnoff Twist and Belvedere. The data shows that while Democrats appear to drink a wider variety of booze, Republicans are drinking stronger liquor.

Democrats like more clear liquors with brands like Absolut and Grey Goose vodkas and Tanqueray gin standing out. Republicans, on the other hand, like more dark liquors like whiskey brands Jim Beam, Wild Turkey and Canadian Club. There were also a variety of bipartisan beverages including Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, Malibu Coconut, Johnnie Walker Black and Seagram's 7.

The charted analysis doesn't line up with the drinking habits of some former presidents so don't go changing political parties to line up with this drinking graph just yet. Democratic Presidents Harry Truman and President Lyndon Johnson were known to drink whisky--a Republican beverage according to this chart.

Not all Republican former presidents fit in with the analysis, either. For example, President Gerald Ford enjoyed a gin and tonic, while President George H.W. Bush drank vodka martinis which according to this chart are on the Democratic choices.

The chart leaves us still guessing the drinking habits of Tea Party members.

Men's Health recently released its 2013 list of the drunkest cities in America with Bakersfield, California, topping the rankings. With New York City, Chicago, and Miami making the top ten of the most sober cities on the list, some readers may experience one eyebrow raised in question. The list is surely not comprised of hard-core scientific data.

Men's Health doesn't reveal all the details of how they compiled their rankings. The 100 cities on the list were supposedly chosen based on binge drinking rates and alcohol-related traffic accidents. Some might argue that annual alcohol sales per capita might have been a better measurement.

Nevertheless, California and Texas run away with the prize with six cities on the top ten list.

For New Yorkers, the end of the year means three things. One, you'll see things like gløgg and hot buttered rum popping up on drink menus. Two, you can count on a good four or five months before subway stations start smelling like urine again. And three, you're going to have houseguests.

And not just any houseguests, but out-of-town houseguests who want the New York New Year's experience.

Three times out of four, that just means spending the night of Dec. 31 at a bar where they'll be wildly overcharged for cocktails, or at a party where the apartment's too small and the first thing people ask you is what you do for a living.

But that fourth time out of four, regular as clockwork, you get some jokers from Not-New York, USA, who just have to see the ball drop at Times Square. And they always ask for a "real New Yorker's" insider tips on doing it. And my answer is always, "New Yorkers stay as far away from Times Square as possible on New Year's Eve." But they never buy that.

So this year, when I was asked to put together a list of tips for people going to see the ball drop in Times Square, I already had some fairly tart advice in mind. I canvassed friends and fellow New Yorkers--some of whom have actually braved the Times Square scene on the scariest night of the year for Gothamites--for suggestions, too.

Here they are after the jump, in countdown form, just like New Year's!

Eww ... A Consumer Reports study discovered that 97 percent of the raw chicken breasts they bought nationwide had potentially harmful bacteria on it. Chicken, as the report points out, is the No. 1 killer when it comes to food poisoning. Above, I've helpfully included a photo of what a chicken without potentially deadly salmonella might look like.

Fly the Hungry Skies: A Pakistan International Airlines flight from Lahore that was bound for New York was delayed for two hours because the pilot wanted a sandwich delivery from a five-star hotel. The foodie flier was so set on a decent meal--the inflight menu only included chips, peanuts and cookies--that he held up the flight even after being told how long it might take. No word on whether he sent the sandwich back because they forgot to take off the pickles. I bet he didn't tip either way.

Pucker Up! Chef Carles Tejedor uses a close-up video of mouths, eyes, and even the hairs on arms to demonstrate how the human body reacts to eating various tastes and textures.

Kings of New York: Carbone and ZZ's Clam Bar sit on the top of the charts of Grub Street's 2013 restaurant power rankings, though the "[h]igh prices, theatrical concepts, no-holds-barred executions of raw fish and red-sauce standards, and hard-to-crack reservations policies" made them love 'em or hate 'em joints.

... Like a Chef Scorned: When Jim Knight, the head chef of The Plough in Oxfordshire, England, was fired, he didn't get angry, he got even. Actually, to be honest, he got both angry and even. The disgruntled chef--who was apparently fired for asking for a weekend off in December and refusing to work Christmas--got his revenge by taking over the restaurant's Twitter account (@ploughpub) and letting forth a stream of disparaging remarks about his former employer.

Soap Bubble Burst: Don't get too attached to those antibacterial soaps you keep by your kitchen sink. Yesterday the FDA moved to restrict the use of triclosan and other chemicals that supposedly fight off bacteria in hygiene products. The FDA said that if manufacturers want to keep using the chemicals, they'll have to prove that they actually fight off bacteria. So far, the agency, notes, only a single product has a proven track record of using triclosan to effectively improve health. Go ahead, guess which product. (I'll reveal the answer at the bottom of the page.)

Nigella Denied: The only reason Nigella Lawson didn't make it big in the U.S.? Because her ex-husband, ad man Charles Saatchi, didn't want her too far from home and put the kibosh on a multitude of American TV offers. That's according to the couple's former housekeeper and nanny, who's on trial on charges of running up nearly $1 million on Saatchi's company credit card.

Why Chefs Are Nuts: Basically it's Yelp, says Anthony Bourdain in a new Kindle Singles interview that covers, well, pretty much everything. Grub Street gives us a juicy excerpt in which Bourdain explains why Yelpers are to blame for all the culinary world's ills (OK, he doesn't really just blame Yelp): "Some chefs borrow money, they do everything they can, they kill themselves, it's the culmination of a career working 100 hours a week or more. They finally open a place and within eight minutes of opening, some asshole has posted on Yelp, 'Worst meal ever.' You can understand why they go insane."

I've Got a Beef With This: A new Journal of Food Protection study--and this is a good time to stop reading if you're just about to head off to lunch--has some disturbing news about the ground beef we get in restaurants. Sixty-two percent of restaurants workers don't wash their hands before handling raw ground beef; seventy-seven percent of restaurant managers say their kitchens never take temperature readings of cooked burgers; forty percent of "medium-rare" burgers were actually undercooked; sixty-five percent of restaurants had rejected a shipment of leafy greens for reasons from insects to rot; and nearly a third of restaurant workers don't have to tell anyone if they have diarrhea, stomach cramps or other gastrointestinal distress even if they're handling food.

That Product Where Triclocan Actually Makes a Difference Is ... Total toothpaste, where triclosan is effective in reducing gingivitis.